Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 76

THE PLAYOFFS DETROIT FREE PRESS WWW.FREE i'OM I THURSDAY, OCT. 12. 21)06 r7: Thoma Swislier hurting A's Oakland's sluggers aren't bitting at all By SHAWN VVINDSO EREEI'KESSM'ORTSWRIIER fr A X. life -i A's outfielder Milton Bradley gets a high-five after drilling a two-run homer in the third inning of Wednesday's Game 2. Not to be outdone, Bradley went on to hit a solo home run in the seventh.

He finished the night 4-for-5 and loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with a single. KIRTHMON F. DOZIERDotrolt frte Press Tigers shortstop Neifi Perez, batting second, takes strike three in the first inning Wednesday, his first postseason Casey injury gets Perez in V. fx II TIGERS CORNER OAKLAND, Calif. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Frank Thomas came to the plate with a chance to tie the American league Series at a game a piece.

But as he has done for the first two games, he whiffed. Not technically, of course he harmlessly flied to center to end the game. But figuratively, the man known as the "Big Hurt" finished Wednesday night 0-5 and three strikeouts the Athletics lost, 8-5. In fact, in the biggest moments of the series so far, Oakland's biggest sluggers have shrunk. Although the team has scored six runs the first two games, none came from designated hitter Thomas or the team's other scary slugger, first baseman Nick Swisher.

Those two combined for 74 home runs this season. But as the series heads back to Detroit, with the A's down, 2-0, Swisher, like Thomas, hasn't managed a hit. Between them, they've reached base three times, all walks. More in-criminatingly, they've struck out eight times. Perhaps as humiliating, the team as a whole struck out six consecutive times in the eighth and ninth innings, breaking an ALCS record.

But the most emphatic, ground-shaking whiff of the night came from Thomas. In the seventh inning, with his team trailing, 7-5, he came to the plate after rightfielder Milton Bradley hit his second homer of the night. The crowd rose, looking for the hulking DH who carried them to the playoffs to finally unleash his bat. 4 A KIRTHMON F. DOZIEROetroit Free Press Improving his game After struggling in the Division Series against Minnesota, Oakland rightfielder Milton Bradley is off to a good start against the Tigers in the ALCS: Opponent AB HR RBI AVG Vs.

Min. 13 1 1 2 .077 hapless against the Tigers. Swisher, who strikes out a lot anyway, isn't yet built for the playoffs he's young (26) and still chases too many pitches out of the zone. But for Thomas, one of the best hitters of his generation, all the feelgood karma he had accumulated in his new home vanished into the San Francisco Bay. Perhaps the return to the Midwest and cooler temperatures will help Thomas played for the White Sox the first 15 years of his career.

shown the power and timeliness displayed as the A's Minnesota in the opening round. The pitching hasn't been much better. The team's ace, Barry Zito, got roughed up Tuesday night. The Tigers scored five runs. They came back to chase Esteban Loaiza in the sixth inning Wednesday.

By the time Ken Macha walked to the mound to pull him, he'd given up seven runs and nine hits. When the game was finished, the Tigers had knocked 11 more hits, the same number they collected Tuesday. Oakland, only a few days removed from the dominating victory over the Twins, appeared equally 2 4 .667 Vs. Det With the count 2-2, he swung and missed so violently he nearly drilled himself into the dirt underneath. Add clutch-hitting shortstop Marco Scutaro and the combined effort of Oakland's hottest hitters for the series was 0-for-21.

None has Contact SHAWN WINDSOR at By JOHN LOWE FREE CRESS SPORTS WRITER jiqqi OAKLAND, Calif. first baseman Sean Casey injured and out for the rest of the American League Championship Series, Tigers manager Jim Leyland has to decide for each game on a shortstop and a No. 3 hitter. His decisions for Game 2 on Wednesday night: 1 I Neifi Perez at shortstop to replace Carlos Guillen, who subbed at first base. I Placido Polanco, who usually hit second, replaced Casey in the third spot.

Leyland said he wasn't committing to Perez at short and Polanco batting third for any game beyond play it by ear day-by-day," Leyland said. He expects to continue having, to make these decisions throughout the se ries against Oakland. He said it would be "a miracle" if Casey recovers from his calf injury to play again in this series. Polanco, who usually hits second, doesn't have the power No. 3 hitters traditionally do.

Then again, neither does Casey. Leyland has used several No. 3 hitters since dropping Pudge Rodriguez out of the role a few months ago. Casey began hitting third with a few weeks left in the regular season and has filled the role in most games since. Leyland said Polanco as the third-place hitter "is not going to change anything he'll hit the same way." The manager said he preferred that stability to seeing someone go into the third spot and suddenly try to hit for more power.

Leyland picked Perez over Ramon Santiago for Game 2 because Perez had hit much better than Santiago off starter Esteban Loaiza. i Perez and Santiago are better defensive shortstops than Omar Infante, the third backup infielder on the roster for this series. But Leyland didn't rule out putting Infante at short if he felt the lineup needed an offensive boost. Guillen goes to first because he has played there and because the Tigers don't have another backup first baseman on the roster. Leyland said Wednesday that Guillen has a sore hamstring, meaning first base might make it easier on him than playing shortT i If this were the regular season, the Tigers could put Casey on the disabled list and replace him on the 25-man roster.

But in the playoffs, an injured player can't be replaced until the end of a series. So with Casey out, the Tigers have a 24-man roster. Leyland said he doesn't understand the logic of that rule. 1 "I can understand some of, the thought process" the rule prevents i 11.8 Li. 1 roster-juggling with fake injuries -r i mit if a guy slid into home plate and broke his ankle, I think they'd have enough sense to say that we understand that's a legitimate injury," Leyland said.

"I'm not complaining at all because the rule is the same for everybody. But you play all year long and this is the biggest stage, and you don't even have a full complement of players." Leyland also pointed out more than once Wednesday that even with Casey's loss, the Tigers still have more healthy everyday players than the A's. don't have their double-play combination," Leyland said of the injured duo o( shortstop Bobby Crosby and second baseman Mark Ellis. Neither is oh Oakland's roster for this series. NOTEBOOK: With their victory in Game 1, the Tigers matched the club record of four straight wins in one postseason, set in 1984 (three-game sweep in the ALCS, then won Game 1 of the World Series).

JULIAN H. GONZALEAZDetroit Free Press Detroit designated hitter Alexis Gomez, center, is congratulated by teammates after hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his second major league home run. ROSENBERG I Leyland is a lineup wizard From Page ID Polanco singled in his first three at-bats. When Polanco came to bat for the fourth time after Perez advanced Granderson to second the A's did not hesitate.

They intentionally walked him. To top off his night, Leyland wanted a righty to pitch to A's star Frank Thomas in the seventh. The obvious choice was strikeout whiz Joel Zu-maya. Leyland chose Jason Grilli. Grilli struck out Thomas.

Welcome to Jim Leyland's life, circa 2006. Some of his decisions are brilliant and some aren't But they all shine. second. And that brought up legendary No. 3 hitter Placido Polanco? Managers have all sorts of philosophies about how to put together a lineup.

But generally, the No. 3 spot is reserved for the best pure hitter on the team. For much of the season, the Tigers used Pudge Rodriguez as their No. 3 hitter. Then Leyland dropped Pudge in the order, tried a few guys, and basically settled on Dmitri Young.

Then came that crazy afternoon in early September when Young batted third, went to shower after the game and was released for "performance" reasons. Apparently the Tigers didn't like how Young walked back to the clubhouse. (I still don't understand that move. There were whispers about Young's attitude, but how bad must a guy's attitude be for him to be released in the middle of a pennant race? The Tigers had to live with Young for only another month or so. What was he doing? Canceling his teammates' health insurance? Torturing their kids' pets? Recruiting for After Young was released, the Tigers settled on Sean Casey, who was acquired without much notice from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.

Then Casey injured his calf Tuesday night. So Leyland went with Polanco a wonderful, underrated hitter, but nobody's idea of a classic No. 3 hitter. OK, so Esteban Loaiza's pitch to Gomez was lousy right over the plate. But Gomez still had to hit it.

And he crushed it. Leyland's shortstop and No. 2 hitter was Neifi Perez, a man who averaged around one base for every four at-bats for the Tigers this season. Leyland has an odd affection for Perez. He says Perez has a lot of energy.

So does Regis Philbin, and I wouldn't let him bat second, either. Perez struck out in the first inning and grounded out on the third. But by his third at-bat, the Tigers had already scored five runs. And in the seventh, he laid down a perfect-bunt to move Curtis Granderson over to E-Neifi, already? Neifi Perez, who hit .200 after an Aug'20 acquisition from the Cubs, started at -1 shortstop and batted second in Game He went 0-for-5: 1 7. First inning: Struck out looking.

Third inning: Grounded to pitcher. Fifth inning: Grounded to second. Seventh inning: Sacrificed to pitcher. Ninth inning: Fiied to leftfield. Contact MICHAEL ROSENBERG at 313-222-6052 or rosen berg a freepress.com..